


Stormy Heart

by MarsDragon



Series: Stormy Heart [1]
Category: Psychic Force
Genre: Brainwashing, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-17
Updated: 2012-12-17
Packaged: 2017-11-21 08:16:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsDragon/pseuds/MarsDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two meetings, both in storms.</p><p>Or less pretentiously, how DID Wendy know who Gates was in 2012?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stormy Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [foxinthestars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxinthestars/gifts).



One more block. Then Wendy would have searched almost every block from west 14th to west 23rd, and she could take a little break. She didn't really think Chris would be in New York, especially not Manhattan, but she was here and it was a big city. Easy to get lost in. It was why Burn had chosen the place as Anti-NOA's latest hideout, despite the absurd rent and the weather making him morose and tired. Wendy didn't mind so much. It was chilly, sure, but the way the wind swept through the buildings made her giggle, even as it drove rain and mist against her jacket. It even made her legs feel a little less sore, something she could appreciate after endless days of walking. At least she was in a pretty area, and the next block would have a bus stop so she could head back.

For possibly the 72nd time that day, Wendy wished her psychic powers were stronger. Keith could cover the entire world with his call. She could still hear him, sometimes, even knowing to block him out. Meanwhile, she could barely reach across a couple of blocks. Which was why she was briskly marching down the street, calling for Chris as loudly as she could. And if Chris wasn't on this street...then tomorrow she'd take on upper Manhattan. Then Queens. Then somewhere else, until they had to move on or she got a reply. She might not be able to cover the entire world in a single call, but _no one_ was going to beat Wendy Ryan in persistence. 

Wait.

Wendy stopped, then had to apologize to the man who nearly bumped into her from behind while she tried to make sense of what she was feeling/hearing. Not Chris. Not even another psychic, NOA or not. Just an odd sort of dead space, a buzzing unlike the feel of the ordinary humans around her. Something...mechanical.

Weird. But not worrisome, not yet. Time to keep an eye open and not just float down the streets. Wendy raised her head and it was then she saw the large, half mechanical man standing on top of a nearby building.

"Psychic detected. It is my duty to kill you."

Oh. 

Oh dear.

He actually was aiming that gun on his arm at her and even when she'd left NOA no one had ever tried to kill her before. Not really. Now-

Now it was time to fly. A burst of wind scattered the pedestrians around her and he wasn't shooting yet thank heaven, but his gun tracked her all the way above the low buildings around them. It didn't matter. He looked big and slow, and if there was one thing in the world Wendy was confident in, it was her speed. They had all known something like this would happen eventually. Burn and Emilio both had their horror stories of how the government had come for lost psychics. At least this was only one man. She'd beat him, go find Burn and Emilio, and get the hell out. She just...had to beat him.

One of them was going to die today and Wendy wasn't going to think about that any more.

The gun fired in a crackle of noise and the wind pushed her to the side and over the buildings before she could even think about it too hard. People were yelling and running down below. What was this guy thinking, attacking her in the middle of a crowded street? Wendy kicked off the roof of an apartment building and tried to get more height. She was facing the man now, and-

He could fly too. That just wasn't fair. 

He could fire his arms too. Wendy flipped over one, and channeled her energy into a thin, slicing blade of wind before the man could do anything else weird. 

"What are you DOING? This is a city!" Wendy screamed, trying to buy some time. They were in the middle of Manhattan. She could lead him into the air, where he might be able to match her speed with those guns. Or she could keep him close to the ground, where their fight could hurt people. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to hurt any innocents. What was she supposed to do?

"My duty. Mission: destroy all psychics." He shook his head a little, then blasted off the roof in a quick charge straight at her. Wendy sidestepped, just in time for him to turn around a fire a missile right at her. 

A shield. It was exhausting, throwing all her power into protection, but the missile exploded right in her face completely harmlessly, right before the man cracked his fist right into the shield. Wendy felt the impact as a jolt that shook every bone in her body, but the man didn't seem any better off as he was pushed a bit away. All the opening Wendy needed to get some distance. The wind carried her up and away, faster than the man could even recover. "And that means me? We've never even met! I'm not in NOA! All I want to do is find my sister," he was charging her again but the wind howled around her like a storm, "and _you're not going to stop me here_!" 

The tornado grabbed the man and whirled him around with all the force Wendy could muster before flinging him straight back into a building, straight through the roof. Somewhere behind the fury and fear Wendy felt bad for whoever owned that building. 

The man didn't seem to be getting up from that. He was unconscious, Wendy hoped. Or it was a trick, and he was just waiting to get her in the back. She kept a breeze swirling around her as she landed. If she had to run, she'd be able to run fast. Without even letting her feet touch the rooftop, Wendy approached the hole. Nothing moved. She poked her head over-

-the man's arm nearly got her in the face. It would've gotten her if she hadn't had the wind push her back as soon as she saw it. She should've just left after all. The man had hefted himself out of the hole with one arm, and Wendy reached out for more blades of wind. After the tornado it was getting harder to think. Her powers were running low, making her head ache. If she could knock him down again, she'd just run and get Burn and Emilio. She'd never find Chris if she died here. 

"Mission: destroy all psychics. For Tina. For Cheryl. Mission priority: high." The man seemed to be feeling the battle as well, small comfort as that was. His left arm was hanging limply with bits of electricity arcing out, and his sunglasses had cracked. But he was still aiming at Wendy, ready to fire.

"Tina? Cheryl? Who're they? I've never met them! Is killing me going to make them happy somehow?" That made the man pause a little, his arm wavering. Wendy pressed the tiny advantage. "It's not, is it? I don't know what your problem with psychics is, but-"

"Psychics are dangerous. They must...eliminated. To stop them from killing more people." 

"I never killed anyone! That's Keith and his followers! I don't even _like_ them, I told you!" 

After that they just stared at each other, not quite willing to kill each other, not quite trusting to back down from killing each other. Somewhere on the streets below, sirens were wailing. Pretty soon the army would be here and Wendy would have to run no matter what. She shouldn't even stay to finish arguing with the man. But if she could just convince him to lay off a bit...

It was the man who broke the tension next. "Threat level...dropping. Temporarily pause mission. System reboot. Human mode...activated." The man shook his head, as if trying to clear it. When he steadied, his posture was different. Less stiff. His voice had lost its mechanical edge when he spoke again.

"How...old are you, anyway?" Wendy blinked at him, and he just stared back. Was he just thinking of her as a kid now? Wendy didn't know if to be insulted about being treated as a child or angry he apparently didn't think anything of killing kids if they were psychic. 

"...I'll be 16 in January." 

"...in January. It's...October now?" 

All right, maybe saying she was 16 already was stretching it a bit, but it wasn't any of this guy's business either way. But he was looking...less murderous as he walked over to look at the street. She still wasn't taking her eyes off him, even when he stood up, looking as normal as a two meters plus shirtless man with gigantic metal arms could look and faced her. "The police are almost here, but they shouldn't bother us. The army's already sent in their best." That got a shudder out of Wendy, even if she tried not to show it. He was the best the army had? If Emilio had been here instead... "Even though this is my first mission, I've got some leeway." Oh.

"So now what? You try to kill me, now you want...what? Because I meant that about not letting you stop me. Even if you're not firing missiles I'm not just going to walk off with you." Wendy didn't relax, exactly, but she calmed down enough to start gathering her power again. She wasn't going to continue a fight she didn't want to end properly. 

The man looked at her again, as if considering how to reply. "I won't hurt you." Wendy couldn't help but add 'now that I've stopped trying to kill you' to the end of that. "I do hate psychics. They killed my wife and daughter. I'll never forgive Keith. Never. But...if you haven't hurt anyone, if you're really not a NOA member...I can't just kill a child." 

It was one thing knowing vaguely that Keith actually did go out and kill innocent humans, that he really meant every word of violent rhetoric that left his mouth. It was another to actually meet someone who had lost family because of him. The entire thing just gave Wendy a sick feeling in her stomach. Did Keith know he was just inciting more hatred against psychics? Did he care? ...probably not. 

The man was still looking at her, as if he wanted a reply. Oh. He probably did want a reply. "...oh. Thanks. That's nice." Something a little better than that, Wendy! she scolded herself internally. "I'm Wendy. What's your name?" 

"Gates. Gates Oltman." He walked back over to her side of the building. Not too close, but near enough for easy conversation. Wendy let herself relax a bit. 

"I...I'm sorry about your family. I really am. I was in NOA, for a bit, actually, but I had to leave. I couldn't...I couldn't be a part of an organization that does that. I just thought maybe, my sister might be there." She didn't move any closer to him, but Wendy adjusted her cap and let her arms fall by her side. The wind was still blowing, if she needed to run. 

"You mentioned a sister. She's...missing?" The man, Gates, didn't look at Wendy, apparently preferring to look at the skyline.

"Yeah, a year ago or so." Wendy was getting better, talking about Chris' disappearance didn't make her sniffle any more. It still hurt, a little, but she was getting used to it. "She went off on an...an academic exchange trip to Hong Kong, where she'd get to do all sorts of sciency things. She loved science." And now Wendy was choking up, dammit, remembering how much Chris had loved, did love, observing animals and studying and playing with that chemistry set she had gotten for Christmas so long ago. "An...and one day she told me she was psychic, then a couple days later she just...disappeared. The school couldn't tell us _anything_. They couldn't do anything, so I decided to look for her myself." 

That made Gates look at her. "All by yourself? What about your parents?"

Wendy laughed a little. "My dad hates psychics. Just hates them. If I told them...it wouldn't end well. And they might've hated Chris, too. I couldn't let them do that." That one hurt less and less by the day. If Burn and Emilio had to be her family, that was fine. If they could just find Chris too, they could just make it on their own. Even if it meant she could never really go home again that...that was fine. Really.

Gates looked away again, looking like he wanted to bite his lip but couldn't. He muttered more to himself than to Wendy, "If Tina had lived, if she had been psychic... But they're not all like that." He spoke up again, "He probably still misses you. I'd bet on it. ...heh. Cheryl's dad...he hated me. Said he'd disown her if she married me. But after a few years he couldn't resist checking up, and once Tina was born...you can't keep a grandpa away from his grandkids." Gates looked close to smiling and his voice was nostalgic. Wendy could believe he had been a normal man once, with a happy family. Before his face seized up and he clenched his hands into fists. 

After that there wasn't much to say. There were a dozen different reasons for Wendy not to interrupt Gates' grief, from the kind to the selfish, and she wasn't feeling up to chatting after being reminded about Chris and her dad anyway. Right now she just wanted to go home, make some tea, and listen to Burn talk about his nice, normal part-time job. Then sleep and tomorrow look for Chris or try to find under-the-table employment again. Just a day-to-day life that didn't involve getting attacked by the military out of nowhere. 

"I have to go now, if we're not fighting any more." Gates didn't reply but he didn't turn and fire either, and Wendy took that as a good sign. "Um...look, if you find any more psychics around here...if they're a boy with green hair, younger than me, or a man with blond spiky hair, like this" Wendy tried to gesture Burn's hairstyle with her hand "then could you not attack them, please? They're my friends, and they hate NOA too. They haven't killed anyone either, so..." she trailed off. Honestly, she should've left by now. 

But Gates turned his head to her, a bit, and nodded just slightly. "If they attack me...I won't hold back. It's my duty."

Lovely. But also the best she'd get. Wendy nodded too, and with a quick, "Thanks!" she flew off as fast as the wind could take her. She wondered if Gates would get in trouble for letting her leave. Even if Burn was doing well at the restaurant, it looked like it really was time to leave New York. 

And she hadn't even searched across half of Manhattan, let alone Brooklyn or Long Island. Damn. 

\---

It was raining again, and the wind was harsh. The IMPERIAL sign nearby swayed as if it was going to fall down, and the land groaned like the mountain itself wanted to fall to pieces. 

It was not, in general, a night to be out searching. Which was exactly why Wendy was doing so. The miserable rain and biting wind would keep away all but the most determined infantry, and there was enough of a natural storm to tip the scale well into Wendy's favour if it came to an air attack. Besides that, it was a dark and trackless night for anyone that couldn't call out mentally to friendly minds. 

And unfriendly ones, Wendy reminded herself. That intimidating blond man's, Setsuna's, words still haunted her. "Stupid girl...you don't need to go looking for that guy. Just keep poking your nose around in the army's business and you'll see him soon enough. ...don't think you'll like it, though." But Emilio couldn't have joined the army. No matter what happened, she just couldn't believe the gentle boy she knew would be in such a violent organization. But it was a lead, and that was more than she had for Burn...or Chris. 

Still, there didn't seem to be anything from the army here. Maybe it was time to fly to the nearest town and see if there were any convenient hostels. She thought she had enough cash, if she took a cheap room... 

Then.

A strange, mechanical buzzing in her head. Not a psychic, but familiar. A flash of memory brought back another rainy day, and that cyborg man. What was his name? And more importantly, why was he here? 

She hoped _he_ didn't know anything about Emilio or Burn. That...Wendy couldn't even think of Emilio back in the labs, or Burn being dragged there for the first time. No one came back from there whole. And she...she couldn't support them all by herself. 

But he was in front of her now, a great dim block in the dark and the rain. His metallic arms caught bits of unseen light, by far the most visible part of him. Wendy wondered if he could really see her, or if he had to tell just by sensors. What _was_ his name? She had to say something and, "Hey you," didn't seem...appropriate. Maybe a wave and let him talk?

"Target Wendy found. Eliminating danger to NOA."

What.

But he had hated NOA! Had hated psychics because of NOA! This couldn't be right. What had happened? She didn't really expect an answer, but she still had to ask, her voice confused, "You too? Why have you gone over to NOA?" 

There was nothing on the blank face or the new visor that gave the impression of recognition. "Unable to respond. You are to be eliminated." And now his arm came up to fire. 

A swift slice of wind knocked his aim astray, leaving the bullets to just miss Wendy's braid. Unable to respond? It had to be related to why he - Gates she recalled suddenly, his name was Gates - why Gates was in NOA in the first place. "Gates! Listen! It's me, Wendy! We met in New York, remember? You agreed not to-" A blast of electricity cut off the "kill me". "Gates!"

"Entity 'Gates' unrecognized. I am...Alpha." 

So that was it. Someone, probably Carlo - it would fit with his sense of 'justice' - had stolen Gates and replaced him with a convenient soldier. Brainwashed him. Just like the humans had tried to do to any number of psychics. Just like Wong did. And now he was coming after Wendy. 

She couldn't die here. Burn and Emilio, and Chris, they were all out there waiting for her. And if that took putting Gates out of his misery...it was bitter, but at least her time at NOA had taught her one thing. Sometimes mercy only came at the end of a knife. 

The wind howled.

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to anonymous beta, who made this work much better to read.


End file.
